Whisper Woods

Something lives inside Whisper Rock, a massive, ancient monolith in the center of the forest. No one knows what’s inside the rock, but some brave the surrounding forest to hear the prophetic rhymes that Whisper Rock whispers to those who approach it. Such a journey is risky; Whisper Rock has self-appointed guardians that jealously guard the prophetic whispers for themselves.

Whisper Rock lends its name to the Whisper Woods of northern Aundair. A few woodcutters live on the edge of the forest, but few draw their livelihood from the woods. Any Aundairian can tell you the woods are haunted. The rock itself sits about a dozen miles off a particularly forbidding stretch of Aundair’s coast, or 80 miles from the Whisper Woods’ southern edge.

At the heart of the Whisper Woods stands a tumble of black rock—neither wholly a natural outcropping nor fully a constructed ruin. Whisper Rock is at least as old as the early days of Galifar, and fragmentary references from the Dhakaani Empire suggest it might be thousands of years older. Nothing larger than a stunted bush grows within 300 feet of Whisper Rock, and the entire clearing has an overwhelming aura of abjuration magic. Something powerful is magically trapped within Whisper Rock, and that presence gives prophetic whispers to those who dare to approach it.

Once per hour, the presence within the rock whispers something to a creature within the clearing. If more than one creature is within the clearing, it chooses one apparently at random (but the decision may not be random from the perspective of the presence inside the rock).

The chosen creature hears a few whispered sentences, each repeated three times. The whispers foretell the future in a cryptic fashion not unlike that of a divination spell, but the prophecies can extend more than one year into the future.

Whisper Rock provides the prophecy it wishes to provide, but characters who meditate on a particular matter can sometimes guide Whisper Rock to prophesy about a particular topic. Doing so requires a DC 30 Concentration check; failure means that Whisper Rock foretells an event of its choice—which might wind up being the topic that character wanted in the first place.

Both Warchief Horgun and Shaman Jalanatra come to Whisper Rock on a daily basis, asking the rock about everything from future intruders in the forest to personal crises that tribe members face. Jalanatra in particular regards the rock as a mentor worthy of veneration—if not outright worship. Whisper Rock has guided the Gnarl tribe for years, and the centaurs are loath to share it with anyone else.

Despite the flora all around, the Whisper Woods are a bleak, forlorn place. The rustle of the leaves overpowers the twittering songbirds and other pleasant forest sounds.

The clearing itself has normal outdoor lighting, but the forest seems unusually dark. During the daytime, characters with normal vision can see only 40 feet (with another 40 feet of shadowy illumination) unless they bring their own light source.

Even in winter, the leaves and branches of the Whisper Woods rustle ceaselessly, imposing a –5 penalty on Listen checks within the forest.

The weather at Whisper Rock is normal for the area, except that the air in the Whisper Woods is always 10 degrees colder than elsewhere. While snow is rare in the rest of Aundair, it’s common within the Whisper Woods

The Whisper Woods is crisscrossed with a network of trails seemingly as old as the forest itself. The trails vary in width between 5 and 15 feet, with most of the wide trails spreading outward from Whisper Rock like spokes. Regardless of their width, all the trails take meandering paths through the woods.

Hundreds of black stone piles are scattered throughout the Whisper Woods, most within a few feet of a trail. Character who pass within 20 feet of such a cairn automatically notice that each stone is roughly carved into the shape of a humanoid skull. Each skull cairn is the center of a permanent wild magic effect, as described on page 149 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The wild magic area extends 100 feet from each cairn.

The cairns also seem to attract game, and consequently predators of both the natural and unnatural sort.

The home of the Gnarl tribe of centaurs, Gnarl Valley is a treeless valley 2 miles south of Whisper Rock. About a hundred centaurs call the valley home, although between half and two-thirds of the tribe is away hunting or patrolling the Whisper Woods at a given time.

Most of the centaurs live in tall-roofed thatch huts that surround twin teepees: one for Warchief Horgun (centaur fighter 4) and another for Shaman Jalanatra (centaur druid 5).

Characters who approach within a mile of Gnarl Valley have a 75% chance per hour of encountering a patrol of 1d4+2 centaurs. Horgun and Jalanatra both partake of Whisper Rock’s prophecies, so it may be difficult for even stealthy intruders to elude the centaur patrols.

About 15 miles northwest of Whisper Rock, the forest is unusually dense, making it one of the most verdant temperate forests in Khorvaire. For about nine square miles, the Whisper Woods is a dense forest as described on page 87 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

The Copse Impenetrable is home to several colonies of araneas, rivals to the Gnarl tribe centaurs. The araneas crave access to Whisper Rock, for who wouldn’t want to hear their future foretold? The more numerous centaurs usually drive off the araneas before they can reach Whisper Rock, but once the araneas reach the Copse Impenetrable, the centaur pursuit ends because the centaurs can’t maneuver or fight in such dense woods.

A drider known only as “The Seven” lives in the Copse Impenetrable. While not the leader of an aranea colony, the Seven enjoys the confidence of the araneas, and they generally follow her advice. How the Seven came to the Whisper Woods and how she lost a leg and gained her name are matters she won’t discuss.

A prophecy can be both a terrific opportunity and an immense hassle for a DM. Whisper Rock is easier to handle than a divination or commune spell, because characters can’t ask specific questions. But as the DM, you still have to make sure that the prophecy comes true—even if it does so in a way that the PCs don’t expect.

If you aren’t ready with a prophecy that matches your plans for an ongoing plot, consider the following prophecies. They all have specific details, but they leave enough unsaid that you still have room to maneuver.

• “Beware the man with blue gauntlets, for he holds your doom in his hand.”
• “Three tests before you reach your goal. Two tests you master, but the third masters you.”
• “Riders bring ill news on the next new moon.”
• “A serpent-tongued woman will be more dangerous to you than a demon horde.”
• “Your greatest foe is just a marionette. Weep for he that holds the strings!”
• “Your candle flickers and fades, but on the fourth day, your friends can reignite the flame.”
• “No foe will best you in battle, but you will be absent when your foes are at their best.”
• “Beware the flame, but trust the shadows it casts.”
• “Your own family will conspire against you before winter’s end.”

After Whisper Rock has given a prophecy to a character, there’s a 25% chance upon each return visit that the rock whispers an instruction to the PC, not a prophecy. No prophecies will be forthcoming for that character until the PC completes the rock’s instructions.

The presence within the rock uses the whispered instructions to hasten the end of its imprisonment. Whisper Rock remains a secure jail today, because the presence mostly whispers to the centaurs, who are cooperative but not capable of missions beyond the Whisper Woods. Whisper Rock would love to find PCs amenable to following its directions, because they can undertake more difficult instructions.

At first, the instructions are simple and innocuous. They gradually get more difficult and more sinister, and it should gradually dawn on the PCs that the whispered voice they hear has motives of its own. Sample instructions include:

• “Bring twelve paleberries to the flat rock at the north end of Whisper Rock.”
• “Fashion a crown from deer antlers, and leave it atop Whisper Rock.”
• “Cast dispel magic at Whisper Rock at dawn for three days in a row.”
• “Slay a centaur within the clearing, then burn its hooves as an offering to me.”
• “Construct a golem from the skull cairns throughout the forest, for I desire an instrument of my will.”